Crazy, Stupid, Love didn't quite turn into the surprise summer hit that a lot of people wanted it to be-- it's made more than $100 million worldwide since its late July release, but that's not really much given the kind of audiences that many stars can bring it. But it's a much better box office performance than the one for the last film directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, I Love You Phillip Morris, so in their own way the writers-turned-directors are riding high, planning their next handful of projects, one of which will reunite them with Carell.

The pair talked to Moviehole about a handful of projects they had in mind, which include an untitled con man romantic comedy and some pie-in-the-sky (a.k.a. "never gonna happen") speculation about a Crazy, Stupid, Love 2. But the one that actually seems to be happening is another untitled comedy that Carell will be producing rather than starring in. Here's how Requa describes it:

We’re working on something with Steve also, that he’s producing. He’s not starring but it’s based on the idea he had. We wrote the script already. It’s one of these three friends from college, but now they’re in their 40s, movies. They’re going on a European backpacking trip that that they never did. And it’s filled with all this middle-aged fun.

It's a shame that Carell isn't in line to star, since he sounds really well-suited to it, a chance to see him work with an ensemble of his comedic equals for the first time since The 40-Year-Old Virgin. But Carell seems freshly committed to both producing and starring in movies now that The Office has wrapped up, and his clout has the power to make these kinds of projects happen. There's no lack of funny men in their 40s working right now, though, so if Carell can talk some of his famous friends into acting in it, the project should still be pretty promising without him.